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New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
The Reds beat the Red Sox in epic '75 Series, but NESN won the reunion with its thowback telecast
BOSTON — When the Cincinnati Reds pulled into Fenway Park on Monday for a three-game interleague series against the Boston Red Sox, it provided the perfect platform for the Sox to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the teams' epic seven-game World Series. Even if Boston lost that series, as any Sox fan from those days can sadly attest. Advertisement But thanks to 2004, and 2007, and 2013, and 2018, many of those same fans can remember the 1975 Red Sox without getting too caught up in soul-searching and resurrected blame assessment. Sure, the likes of Jim Rice, Game 6 home run hero Carlton Fisk and the captain himself, Carl Yastrzemski, might not be so gracious on this topic. They are among the greatest players in Red Sox history, Hall of Famers all, and let's add that Dwight Evans and the late Luis Tiant should be in the Hall of Fame. And for them, any reunion of the 1975 Red Sox has always been accompanied by a sobering reminder that they never played on a World Series winner. Still, the Super Sox of '75 — as they were dubbed by the commemorative record album put out later that year by Fleetwood Records — was one hell of a team. That's the message NESN sought to deliver with its telecast of Tuesday night's Red Sox-Reds game, and its effort was spectacularly successful. Yes, NESN deserves all the criticism it gets for cutting to commercials at the exact moment an inning-ending out was recorded. And yes, the 2025 Red Sox have struggled to a degree that too often resembles the ninth-place 1965 Red Sox, not the pennant-winning 1975 Red Sox. But NESN did so much more than show the usual grainy highlights and roll out a conga line of '75 veterans. It also created a sort of throwback 1975 telecast, right down to the ancient graphics and decking out the on-air talent in period garb. Even the baseball gods came through. Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, considered by some to be the greatest game ever played, waited on hold for three days because of torrential rains that were soaking the Boston area. It wasn't until Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1975, that Game 6 finally got underway. So what happened on this hot, muggy Tuesday night in 2025? It started to rain at Fenway Park, and it kept raining. After a rain delay in the top of the fourth inning that lasted more than an hour, the game was suspended. It'll be resumed Wednesday afternoon at 2:30, with the Red Sox leading 2-1. (Wednesday's regularly scheduled game will begin at 7:10 p.m.) Advertisement NESN did plenty of planning for this game. Let's start with pregame host Tom Caron and play-by-play man Dave O'Brien, who were dressed in thick yellow sports jackets, the kind that Dick Stockton wore when he was the television voice of the 1975 Red Sox. (It was a look made famous by the late Howard Cosell during the golden days of 'Monday Night Football.') Lou Merloni was the color analyst on duty Tuesday night, thereby stepping into the role played by former Sox fan favorite Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson in the mid-1970s. Merloni wore a powder blue sports jacket reminiscent of a 1970s game show host. Sideline reporter Jahmai Webster wore sunglasses and some kind of multi-patterned, brick-colored shirt. Rice, who does the pre- and postgame shows on NESN and was content with showing up in one of his expensive, tailor-made suits (in a way, it's always 1975 in Rice Land), compared Webster with Linc, a character played by Clarence Williams III in the 1970s cop show 'The Mod Squad.' The plan was for the third and fourth innings to be entirely retro. Alas, we only got to the third inning, and then it rained like it was October 1975 all over again. But we still saw plenty of period graphics, and we also saw an old-timey split screen with a thick yellow line running through the middle, something that was cutting edge in the '70s. When the rain started and the play on the field stopped, the connection to 1975 was heightened, not dampened. For one thing, it conjured memories of that three-day delay. (During one of those off days, the Reds took a bus to Tufts University's Cousens Gym, located in Medford, Mass., about 5 miles from Fenway Park, to take batting practice. The story goes that the bus got lost and Reds manager Sparky Anderson, in full uniform, stepped off in the middle of Medford Square to ask for directions.) With Tuesday's game on hold and NESN filling airtime on the fly, there were plenty of booth shots of O'Brien and Merloni, who, owing to the crushing humidity, had abandoned the bulky jackets. What was left were two guys in white, short-sleeved shirts and ties; take that look and add in the headsets, and they looked like the technicians from Mission Control in 'Apollo 13.' Advertisement Some good stories were told. Merloni pointed out that during his playing career, he had four members of the 1975 Red Sox as hitting coaches: Rico Petrocelli when he was in Single A, Yastrzemski as a spring training instructor, and Evans and Rice when he was in the big leagues. 'Imagine having Rico as my first coach,' Merloni said. 'My mom was so happy.' Rick Wise, who won 19 games for the '75 Red Sox, paid a visit to the booth and talked about the three-day rain delay during the World Series. 'All my friends from Pennsylvania had to go back to work on Monday,' Wise said. 'They couldn't watch the game.' There were some fun clips of current Red Sox players watching video from the 1975 season. Right-hander Lucas Giolito, after seeing video of the late Pete Rose in his stylish, perfectly groomed Prince Valiant haircut, said: 'Look at that hair, dude. My God, it's like a helmet.' For those who followed the Red Sox in the 1970s, this was all so wonderfully nostalgic. But what made it work is that it didn't get in the way of the game being played by the 2025 editions of the Red Sox and Reds. Present-day baseball was right there on the screen — O'Brien calling the action, Merloni breaking it down — and if that's all you were looking for, you could ignore the rest. But it's the rest that made it special. The Reds won the 1975 World Series. NESN won the reunion. And now that its people have conquered the past, it can get to work on finding a way to let future games breathe a little after the last out of each inning. (Top photo of Abraham Toro courtesy of NESN)
Associated Press
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Julio Franco breaks his own record for oldest player to hit a pinch-hit HR
May 19 1910 — Cy Young won the 500th game of his career as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 5-4, in 11 innings. 1910 — Boston beat the Pirates 6-3 for the first time in 26 tries. 1933 — For the first time in major league history, brothers on opposite teams hit home runs in the same game. Boston Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell homers off his brother Wes Ferrell in the 2nd inning, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher returns the favor as he homers in the 3rd on a pitch called by his sibling. It is the only time that the Ferrell brothers homer in the same game. 1942 — Paul Waner of the Boston Braves got his 3,000th career hit off Pittsburgh's Rip Sewell in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Pirates. 1956 — Pittsburgh's Dale Long hit a ninth-inning homer against the Chicago Cubs. It was Long's first of eight straight games with a homer. 1962 — Stan Musial of St. Louis became the NL career hits leader. The 41-year-old got a ninth inning single for his 3,431st hit and moved past Honus Wagner. The Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1. 1968 — After hitting 10 home runs in six games, Frank Howard of the Washington Senators was stopped by pitcher Earl Wilson of Detroit, which won the game 5-4. 1976 — Carl Yastrzemski has the only three-homer game of his illustrious career, going deep three times in a 4-for-4 day in a 9 - 2 Red Sox win over the Tigers. He victimizes three different pitchers - Dave Roberts, Steve Grilli and John Hiller. 1979 — After a bitter six-week strike, the major league umpires return to work. During the work stoppage, the men in blue were replaced by amateur and minor league arbiters. 1981 — Pittsburgh's Jim Bibby gave up a leadoff single to Terry Harper of the Atlanta Braves, then retired the next 27 batters for a 5-0 one-hitter. Bibby also hit two doubles. 1998 — Mark McGwire hit three two-run homers against Philadelphia. It was the second time this season and fourth time in his career McGwire hit three homers in a game. McGwire became the 12th player to have two three-homer games in a season. 2000 — Jason Kendall hit for the cycle and drove in a career-high five runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 13-1 rout of St. Louis. Kendall had a two-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, a double in the third and a two-run triple in the eighth. 2004 — Atlanta's 45-year-old Julio Franco broke his own record for the oldest player to hit a pinch-hit homer. Franco, who had a pinch-hit homer two weeks earlier against San Diego, hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game at 4 in the eighth. The Braves lost 6-4 in 11 innings to the Diamondbacks. 2008 — Boston's Jon Lester shut down Kansas City 7-0 for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The 24-year-old lefty, who survived cancer to pitch the World Series clincher for the Red Sox last fall, allowed two baserunners, walking Billy Butler in the second inning and Esteban German to open the ninth. Jason Varitek catches his fourth no-hitter, tying Ray Schalk for the major league record; one of Schalk's no-hitters was later removed from the official records, making Varitek the first backstop to have four official no-hitters to his name. 2009 — Washington became the fourth team in major league history to score at least five runs in each game of a six-game losing streak. The Nationals lost 8-5 in 10 innings to Pittsburgh after they rallied to tie the game with a run in the ninth, but another letdown from a bullpen with a collective 1-14 record allowed them to join the 1929 Pirates, 2004 Cincinnati Reds and 2005 Texas Rangers. 2010 — CF Angel Pagan hits the first inside-the-park homer in the history of Nationals Park. 2011 — After sitting on the bench for most of the season so far, veteran 1B Jason Giambi has the first three-homer game of his career in the Rockies' 7 - 1 win over Philadelphia. He hits homers in his first three at-bats, driving in all 7 of his team's runs, but fails in his last two at-bats to become only the 16th player to hit four dingers in one game. Giambi entered the game hitting .115 with 1 homer and 4 RBI; at 40, he is the second-oldest player to hit three home runs in a game, after Stan Musial who was 41 when he accomplished the feat on July 8, 1962. 2018 — The Rays have been experimenting with 'bullpen days' all season, when the starting pitcher is not expected to go deep into the game, going all out for 3 or 4 innings before handing the ball over to another reliever, but today they take it even further. Short reliever Sergio Romo starts today's game against the Angels, his first start in the majors after 588 appearances out of the bullpen, and is only asked to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough. The plan works perfectly as Romo strikes out the three men he faces - Zack Cozart, Mike Trout and Justin Upton, all righthanders - then hands the ball over to lefty Yarbrough in the 2nd. Yarbrough pitches scoreless ball until allowing a run in the 8th as Tampa Bay wins, 5 - 3. It is the first time a starting pitcher leaves after a perfect 1st inning since Ernie Shore had done so on October 5, 1915. Manager Kevin Cash is so pleased with how the scheme goes that he picks Romo to start the next day's game as well. 2021 — Corey Kluber of the Yankees is the latest pitcher to join this season's no-hitter parade, pulling off the feat with a 2 - 0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. It is already the 6th 9-inning no-hitter this year, and comes one day after Spencer Turnbull of the Tigers had pitched the previous one. _____
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Red Sox honor 1975 AL Championship team and honor one who was missing: Luis Tiant
Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski (8) hugs Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora after Yastrzemski after tossing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox players from the 1975 team Carl Yastrzemski (8) and Carlton Fisk are introduced during opening ceremonies of a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, left, and catcher Carlton Fisk acknowledge fans as they walk onto the field prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, left, and catcher Carlton Fisk acknowledge fans as they walk onto the field prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski (8) hugs Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora after Yastrzemski after tossing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox players from the 1975 team Carl Yastrzemski (8) and Carlton Fisk are introduced during opening ceremonies of a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, left, and catcher Carlton Fisk acknowledge fans as they walk onto the field prior to a home-opener baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell) BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1975 AL championship team before their home opener on Friday, with special attention paid to pitcher Luis Tiant, who died this offseason. 'I miss Luis. We all do,' said former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, who played with Tiant in Boston for seven seasons. 'I try to take something from everybody I'm around. And with him, it's just his love for people.' Advertisement Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski threw out the ceremonial first pitch to current manager Alex Cora before Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals; Bill 'Spaceman' Lee took the mound and hammed it up. Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Fred Lynn were also among more than a dozen other members of the '75 team who took part in the ceremony. Tiant, who followed an All-Star career with decades of as a Red Sox instructor and ambassador, died in October at the age of 83. A banner with a heart bearing his nickname -- 'El Tiante' – was displayed on one of the light stanchions above the Green Monster, and a 'moment of reflection' honored those who'd played for the team and died since last season: Tiant, Rickey Henderson, Felix Mantilla, Bob Veale and Scott Sauerbeck. Tiant's family made the ceremonial call of 'Play ball!' 'Luis is a guy that we miss,' Cora said. 'He was always teaching the guys how it used to be. And what it means to be a Red Sox. … He'll go down there and talk to them, in a very unique way. Always with a smile.' Advertisement Asked what was unique about it, Cora said with a laugh, 'I would not talk to my kids that way.' Tiant started the '75 opener at Fenway – and pitched one of his 187 career complete games to beat a Milwaukee Brewers team that included Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Robin Yount. 'I'm sure Luis was emotional about it,' Lynn said. 'He loved pitching here. He just loved pitching, period. And he was such a competitor, and I feel honored to have played behind him as much as I did.' Lynn, who would win the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, said he remembered seeing Tiant's unusual pitching windup from his position in center field. Advertisement 'That's the first time I'm behind Luis. So, I'm watching him wind up like everybody else,' Lynn said, thinking: ''Man, that's different. I wouldn't want to have to hit against him, especially as a right-handed hitter.'' The '75 Red Sox finished April in fifth place in the AL East but wound up winning the division by 4 ½ games over the Baltimore Orioles. They swept the Oakland A's in the AL Championship Series and then faced Cincinnati's Big Red Machine in a World Series that is still considered one of the greatest of all time — with Fisk's arm-waving, 12th-inning homer to win Game 6 before the Reds won it in seven games and prolonged Boston's championship drought. Lynn batted .331 with 21 homers and 105 RBIs, and Rice finished third in the MVP voting; Yastrzemski and shortstop Rick Burleson also received MVP votes. Tiant was 18-14 with a 4.02 ERA – a humdrum season for the pitcher who previously led the league in ERA twice. 'Everybody knows the talent. Everybody knows his story,' Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. But I don't think people who didn't spend time with him … know he was such an incredible person. Advertisement 'He loves this franchise. Loved the team. And we're just so grateful for what he meant to so many of us. He sort of set the standard for it meant to put that uniform on. He appreciated it each and every day. And we appreciated having him around for all those years.' ___ AP MLB:
